Abstract

Objective:

Although aerobic exercise training has been recommended as nonpharmacological treatment of high blood pressure, the mechanisms of training-induced blood pressure lowering effects in dexamethasone (DEX)-induced hypertension remain unclear. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the preventive role of exercise training in counteracting DEX-induced hypertension.

Methods:

Rats were submitted to aerobic exercise training for 8 weeks or kept sedentary and then treated with DEX (50 μg/kg/day, s.c.) or saline injections for 14 days. Thereafter, all rats underwent carotid artery catheterization, and cardiovascular autonomic modulation was evaluated by spectral analysis. In addition, soleus muscle was collected for morphometric and protein level analysis.

These results demonstrate that exercise training improves cardiovascular autonomic balance to the heart associated with an improvement in sympathetic modulation of vascular tone and microcirculatory function in the skeletal muscle of DEX-induced hypertensive rats.